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A recent McKinsey webinar explored how COVID-19 has impacted small businesses. Small to medium-sized businesses make up 99 percent of all firms and employ 47 percent of all private-sector workers. They also create two-thirds of net new jobs.

Before COVID-19, surveys show small businesses were optimistic about the economy. Now, however, almost 80 percent of small business owners are concerned about their firms’ sustainability. With limited liquidity, small businesses – especially those owned by minorities – are more likely to be at risk due to COVID.

On July 15, the Texas Association of Business, Texas Economic Development Council, Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives, North Texas Commission, and other Texas businesses and stakeholders came together to launch the Texas Return to Work Initiative. This effort includes an interactive resource guide and series of  employer surveys intended to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on Texas businesses, employees, and economies. 

“We wanted to craft a program specifically to fill the gap that was left by the CARES Act,” said Lindsey Kimball, Director of Economic Development at Hillsborough County in Florida. On June 30, Hillsborough County launched three distinct small business assistance programs to form the Rapid Response Recovery Assistance Program (R3) to do just that.

Each program was designed to provide assistance based on the specific problems small businesses in Hillsborough County were experiencing. Whether it was a rapid infusion of capital, funding to hire more workers, or reimbursements to make your business safer, the R3 programs were created to help businesses keep their doors open after covid-19 forced them to close.

COVID-19 outbreaks and stay-at-home orders have pushed many small and local businesses to explore e-commerce as a way to sell their products. Earlier this week we explored different e-commerce platforms, ranging from low-barrier to website construction, but many small businesses are looking to leverage new or existing partnerships to sell online. Here are some of the partnership models that we have seen emerge or expand during the first half of the year.